Nibelungenbrücke (Nibelungen Bridge), Linz

The Nibelungen Bridge in Linz marks the spot of its wooden predecessor that had stood here since 1497.

In 1869 the construction of a new iron bridge got underway replacing the demolished old bridge, which was completed in 1872. It was soon noticed, however, that the new overpass was a bit too narrow to cope with the growing pedestrian and carriage traffic. Still, plans for its modification could not be implemented until many years later.

The desire for a new bridge was also shared by young Adolf Hitler, who grew up in the nearby town of Leonding and occasionally attended school in Linz. Preserved sketches by Hitler reveal that he had already had concrete ideas for a new bridge in 1925. After the so-called Anschluss in March 1938, Hitler took personal charge of Linz, declaring it one of the Führer cities, determined to transform it into an economic and cultural hub.

Pursuant to the expansionist "Führerstadt Linz" plan, the engineer Karl Schaechterle and the architect Friedrich Tamms were charged designing of a new Linz Danube bridge to replace the old one. The project was approved in the summer of 1938 and construction began in September of the same year. In 1940 the bridge was finished.

While the exact origin of the name "Nibelungen" is unclear, there are some speculations about the unspecified "fathers of the bridge" associated with the heroic Nibelungen saga involving mythical Germanic figures of Kriemhild and her brothers who reportedly once set foot on the land of present-day Linz.

The huge equestrian statues of the Nibelung characters, meant to adorn the bridge – commissioned by Adolf Hitler, were never completed because of the war. Only two 1:1 plaster models thereof had been placed on the bridge for a few months.